And their playoff hopes may have died along with it as they fell to 5-7.

Brees completed 31 of 44 passes for 326 yards, but most of them came while he was in comeback mode. He had just 34 passing yards in the first 29 minutes of the game.

Drew Brees watches his record TD streak -- and possibly his Saints' playoffs chances -- come to an end Sunday. AP Photo/Bill Feig

Brees also finished with three interceptions -- including one at the goal line on the game's final play that was essentially a "Hail Mary." And he blamed himself for fumbling a shotgun snap on third-and-1 on the opening drive.

Although he recovered, he said it "kind of defined our day, unfortunately."

"I know that there were some windows to throw balls in there that I didn't attempt today. (And there were) a couple that I maybe forced down the field when I had something that was a better option that would've been a big gain underneath," Brees said. "But you pick and choose when you're gonna take your shots and when you're gonna put one up there if you've gotta make a play. Unfortunately we just didn't have those go our way today."